There is good farming and there is bad farming, and I have been around enough farming to know bad farming when I see it. Good farming requires planning, care, weeding, water, fertilizer, good soil maintenance, and pest control. Good farming doesn’t happen by chance. It is hard work, and it is a daily work. We all know what good farming looks like.
Jesus talks about farming in Matthew 13, and what Jesus describes is not good farming. This past Sunday he described a farmer who went out to sew seeds and the farmer threw the seeds upon all kinds of soil. Thorny. Rocky. Even on the path. And some he threw on good soil. In the end, the farmer was not careful, and twenty-five percent of what he sowed grew and produced. Not good farming.
This Sunday Jesus continues to talk about farming, and what he recommends this week is nearly as bad. In this particular field, along with the good seed he has sown, the farmer has had evil people come in and sow weeds among his wheat. His farm hands notice the weeds, and they are ready to go pull out the imposter plants, but the farmer forbids them from doing anything with the weeds. Let them stay, he says, and he is comfortable allowing the weeds to grow right alongside his crop. Do not pull the weeds.
It is bad farming, both this past Sunday and this coming Sunday. But of course, Jesus isn’t trying to teach his followers about good farming, he’s teaching about his kingdom. And as hard as it may be to believe, bad farming practices are often good kingdom practices.
Throw seed everywhere. Don’t discriminate. Throw the seed even when you think the soil looks stony, or dry, or briar-infested. Just sew seed everywhere.
Don’t pull the weeds. As much as you’d like to pull out the bad, let it be. This is not your job, it is up to the owner of the field, and we are simply field hands. Let the weeds grow among the wheat, in the end God will sort it out.
It is not good advice for farmers, but it is teaching that the life of his’ followers depends on. It is vital for his church.
Come to worship this Sunday, not looking for some pointers to have a green thumb and bumper crop, but to have a Christ-like heart and mind.